Neighbors say the new intermodal railyard in Halfmoon and Mechanicville is so noisy that it keeps them up at night. (Photo by Michael Farrell / Times Union)

Neighbors say the new intermodal railyard in Halfmoon and Mechanicville is so noisy that it keeps them up at night. (Photo by Michael Farrell / Times Union)

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Neighbors are asking the owners of the new intermodal railyard in Halfmoon and Mechanicville to find ways to minimize noise created by the constant coming and going of trains and the unloading of cargo. (Photo by Michael Farrell / Times Union) less

Neighbors are asking the owners of the new intermodal railyard in Halfmoon and Mechanicville to find ways to minimize noise created by the constant coming and going of trains and the unloading of cargo. (Photo ... more

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Trucks arrive at the new railyard in Halfmoon and Mechanicville. Neighbors say the facility is having a negative impact on their quality of life. (Photo by Michael Farrell / Times Union)

Trucks arrive at the new railyard in Halfmoon and Mechanicville. Neighbors say the facility is having a negative impact on their quality of life. (Photo by Michael Farrell / Times Union)

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The rail yard north of the Anglin residence in Halfmoon, N.Y. Feb. 28, 2012. ( Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

The rail yard north of the Anglin residence in Halfmoon, N.Y. Feb. 28, 2012. ( Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Photo: Skip Dickstein

Rail yard too noisy for neighbors

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HALFMOON — From the deck behind Jeanette Anglin's townhome, the rail yard at the bottom of a steep ridge looks almost like a child's train set, with itty-bitty trucks and cute locomotives coming and going as if by remote control.

But Anglin and her neighbors say there's nothing cute or entertaining about the impact the yard — a $40 million "intermodal" project — has had on their lives since it opened in January.

Residents along Fairway Drive in Halfmoon say the trains, trucks and cranes have bombarded their once-quite neighborhood with unrelenting industrial noise that wakes them up at night and puts them on edge. That's especially true for folks like Anglin or nearby neighbor Wayne Allen, who live on the northern edge of the roadway, with homes that sit high above the yard.

"It's very frustrating for those of us who live on this ridge," Anglin said. "It's an eyesore as far as we're concerned."

You've probably heard some variation of this tragedy before -— homeowners who have had a sliver of bucolic peace ruined by somebody else's definition of progress. Maybe the quality of life in your neighborhood was diminished by some new development or another. Or maybe your house ruined somebody else's beloved field or woodlot.

A phrase that comes to mind: Buyer beware.

And check the zoning on that pretty view before you purchase.

Ongoing examples of neighbor-development conflict abound. In Malta, some residents are complaining about noise from the new GlobalFoundries factory. Over in Schodack, meanwhile, some neighbors are waging an apparently successful campaign to prevent the construction of a massive distribution center for the Dollar Tree chain of stores.

Such conflicts are inevitable, particularly if zoning laws and infrastructure policies continue to encourage the sprawling consumption of undeveloped land at the fringes over the re-use of existing infrastructure.

But the new rail yard on 205 acres in Halfmoon and Mechanicville is different, because it actually revives a train terminus abandoned decades ago, leaving the land overgrown and home to only an occasional passing train.

The project certainly has regional benefits, even beyond the creation of nearly 100 jobs. By shipping products, including new cars, into the Capital Region by train, the Norfolk Southern yard takes trucks off highways. And train travel is vastly more efficient than trucking, so the rail yard has pollution and climate-change benefits.

Still, the positives aren't justification for unnecessary damage to peace and property values up on Fairway Drive, where many of the homes sold for well more than $200,000, according to county records.

"We all know that people need to work, now more than ever," said Allen, whose mother-in-law lives in an adjacent townhome. "I just want them to be good neighbors, so I can sleep and enjoy my property."

Of course, the conflict might have been avoided if Halfmoon had required that prominent developer Bruce Tanski build the homes away from the ridge and land primed for industrial uses. Tanski, too, might have done more to buffer his Fairway Estates development.

"Who knew nine years ago that an intermodel yard was coming?" he said Wednesday. "But I don't know that I would have done anything different if I had."

Tanski, noting that the meeting on noise issues drew "only" about 30 of his development's 325 homeowners, thinks noise concerns are overblown. The issues, he added, will subside as people get used to the rail yard and summer vegetation fills in.

Allen, Anglin and the others aren't so sure. In fact, they fear the noise will get worse as the rail yard ramps up, so they're asking Norfolk Southern for sound barriers and other buffering that could minimize the sound and improve the view. The yard is about 600 feet from some homes, and the noise echoes up the hillside.

The railroad has already made some changes. Most notably, it installed mufflers on some of the overhead cranes, reducing some of the sound from banging and crashing. The company says it's willing to consider additional suggestions.

"We're listening with an open ear," said Norfolk Southern spokesman Dave Pidgeon. "If there are ways that we can mitigate sound that are cost effective and don't affect operations, then we would certainly consider it very strongly. But we're moving ahead with the project."

Pidgeon added that the railroad is skeptical barriers or additional vegetation will do much to address noise. And a promise to "listen" doesn't make it sound as though Norfolk Southern will proactively work to address the problems it created.

Anglin and Allen are therefore left hoping that Halfmoon officials, whom they describe as supportive, will press the company for improvements and decibel reductions. They've accepted, however grudgingly, that their neighborhood is forever changed.

"We realize it's a give-and-take," Anglin said. "But it seems like they're taking a lot more than they're giving."